There is no denying that Mr. Ford’s two years as mayor have been a disappointment in many respects. While he has done a credible enough job on the issue for which he was elected – getting the city’s finances in some kind of order – he has frittered away much of the goodwill he might have expected through the seemingly unending series of scrapes, escapades and public embarrassments of which he was the focus.

The mayor seemed to have only one interest – controlling spending – and once some headway had been made on that front he spent most of his time getting himself needlessly into trouble. From skipping meetings so he could coach his football team, to haranguing city employees to spruce up the area around his family business, to run-ins with frightened reporters and…